My 2008 container gardening starts !

Tomtom, does your garden consist of only containers? Or do you have some things planted in the ground.

Tom Tom, your gardens are - Hikari no ginga

Those containers speak for themselves...no language needed! And pirl's right. TomTom, you definitely speak better English than many people I know (and it's their only language)! Thanks for all of your pictures.

Tomtom, I am in awe of your containers, all beautiful works of art. I am trying to learn ikebana on my own, but simplicity can be so complex! Thank you so much for sharing your container arrangements.

Tomtom, I too, am in awe of your containers! And I love that Selene! I will have to look for it now. Your plantings and containers are most beautiful!!! Thank you for showing these!!

Wo, wow, wow!!! Sooooo beautiful!! And Dale... yours too! Thank you for sharing... you made my day!

Brenda

Tomtom, they are just exquisite. The color combiation is breathtaking. Your english is not bad either.lol
Dale you must have lots of energy not to mention great taste to have such and extensive and gorgeous containers display.

Rodicap,
Extensive containers? Do you mean my 3 month old nusery or the containers that I plant and maintain as my employment?

Always admiring your work, TomTom.
Here are some pics I took at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto California last week.
#1

#2 Tall feathery effect of a plant I've never seen

#3

#4

#5. Not really a container.... a raised bed.

Those were fun, Aguane! Especially the unknown airy pink flower.

I like how the raised bed had hanging containers over it, so it was one big display. I sometimes find the southwestern style TOO simple, but in this case, with the flowers for adornment, they were perfect.

Carrie

Hi all, thank you so much for your kind words.They 're a great consolation, though I'll never cease to feel my tongue hanging useless when it comes to speaking English.
I do appreciate them.

revccaus, I have several things planted in the ground too.
It's very small, compared to most of your gardens.
This handkerchief of a plot is called a cat's brow of a ground in Japan.

Aquane , beautiful pics! I too love the tall feathery effect in #2.
Here's a picture of snapdragons I took recently.

# 12

#13 Iris and salvia

Beautiful. I think words fail us trying to find new ways to express how much we enjoy your photos and your gardens, Tomtom!

Do you grow any Japanese irises? They are my favorites.

Thankyou so much Tomtom. Absolutely wonderful containers and garden. You ought to write a book with the pictures included.

Do I even need to tell you again how creative you are, Tomtom. I am so curious to know the temperature where you live right now. I notice that you say 9b but you are in Japan. Could this be your winter choices of plants? Thanks

Drapelady, Tomtom is a renowned gardener /I think she is a teacher as well) in Japan and has already written gardening books. Too bad they have not been translated :o(

Ursula

LOL, I would be happy just to see the pictures.

True! We could take after the men who always said they bought Playboy because of the good articles for reading. Ha!

LOL, pirl! Good one! Reminds me of a joke about the lady who got her husband subscriptions to National Geographic and Playboy for a 50th wedding anniversary. When he inquired about the gift, she responded "I wanted you to see all the places you'll never get to go."

Tomtom, as always, I'm overwhelmingly inspired by your work! Besides your excellent eye for color harmony and form, the unusual and creative combinations of plants you use always amaze me. I've noticed you often use woody plants in your combinations. Do you overwinter them in containers, or ultimately set them out into the garden? Oh, and another question; I know you grow most plants from seed, do you grow the plants separately and combine them after they've started blooming? I'm wondering at what stage you put the combinations together. I have better luck waiting till the plants mature, it seems if I place combinations of small plants in the container and let them mature, they do so at different rates and the composition doesn't work.

And your written English is a joy to read! Very eloquent!
Neal

I fully agree with you, drapelady. Tomtom also used to keep her own web page (which I visited very often and still did not learn any Japanese) - she no longer does for a couple years or so.

Tomtom, we want your page back! ;o)

Pirl and Neal, thanks for a good laugh!

Thanks a lot, you-all ,for your kindly commnents!
It's a great joy to learn what I find beatiful are equally found do by you.

pirl,
I don't grow Japanese Iris myself. I've got a friend who grow them in containers.When they bloom in full, I'm sure I'll post their photos.

gessiegail,
my 9b is equivalent to US's 9b:the lowest temp is
-4degrees.

gemini_sage,
I grow some woody plants in containers.They easily overwinter outdoors.
I grow all the seedlings in plastic pots and plant them in containers before they bud.
Combining these and those imaginning when they'll bloom is profoudly intriguing.Have a look at some summer combintions
at the moment,will you?

Tomtom

Centaurea americana and gaillardia pulchella

Nicotiana domino mix and Lobelia

It will be enjoyable to see their progress and then see them in total bloom.

Tomtom, how do you decide on your combinations? Do you have a vision of what they will look like before you plant them?

This message was edited May 27, 2008 4:16 PM

Thank you, Tomtom. I'm very happy to see some at the beginning stage. Your guidance is greatly appreciated. I'm curious as to the answer to revclaus's question as well. And to elaborate on it, do you use only plants you have experience growing, or do you try lots of new things? I'm curious if you ever have some that don't turn out as expected, or that some plants fail in. That's the problem I run into.

I'll add to the Tomtom questions. Do you get inspiration from magazines, nurseries, books or are these all your own ideas? Either way it's the execution of the ideas that we all seem to love.

Hi, tomtom! I'm so happy you are posting your spring photos! What a joy! And so pretty!

I would like to comment on how well grown your plants are. They appear so full and healthy---so I'm guessing you have beautiful clear sunny days and a really good fertilizer for container plants...?

I love looking at your photos!

Hi ,you-all.
So sorry for the delay in replying.

revclaus,
To plant youg plants I consider their blooming periods, heights, and colors. Then I choose the containers that would fit them.
Trying new ones is,I think,a sort of a game of chance,though.
Quite a few don't turn out as expected.

gemini_sage,
Just like you I'm so fond of new plants.LOL So I sow new seeds every year. In their first year I plant them separately and try to learn the way they grow and bloom.
As I wrote to revcaus, I've met with lots of failures and disappointments all right.

pirl,
Of course I get inspiration from lots of sources. What I try to do is not just to imitate them but to garnish them a bit to my taste.
Recently I got an excellent idea from the thread jlp222 started and the Illoquin's photo.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/828559/


#14 Nasturtium ' Princess of India' and Pelargonium

At a nursery I saw this display and thought of you. I'll post two photos for you.

And here are the flowers to go with the sign:

tabasco ,I don't use any special fertilizer. We have days and days in Japan too. The most favorable season for flowers around here is spring. In the middle of June the rainy season sets in. So eye-catchable containers are, as it were, limited editions of spring.

#15 Artemisia schmidtiana ,Campanula`Sarastro' and Dianths (not effective ,though)

This message was edited May 30, 2008 11:27 PM

Another year of beautiful containers!

Aguane, that airy plant you didn't know is Nicotiana mutabilis
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59723/

Tomtom, I think almost anything in that big container would be effective!

edited to clarify: anything you put in that gorgeous container would be effective. Didn't you have the ornamental kale we were admiring in it last year?

This message was edited Jun 27, 2008 6:37 PM

From a flower show in Holland, very commercial, but still nice>

so glad you are hopping around on DG dale! We always love your pics!